Naomi Ruth 💕

Today is my baby sister's birthday. She would be 13 years old! That's how old I was when she came and blessed our family for 2 precious days. 

If there is one thing I could tell you about what I learned from this difficult yet beautiful life-changing experience, it is this: God Answers Prayer. He doesn't always answer our prayers the way we want Him to or think He should, but He does answer. 

It would be easy to be mad at God, which my little 13 year old self definitely was, but that would be the product of me focusing only on the death - the heartache of loosing my sister when I expected to live my whole life with her. After all I PRAYED for her! My sisters and I asked Jesus over and over for another baby in the family, and she came! She just didn't get to stay with us as long as we had expected. 

The truth is, death is part of life. In our culture we tend to almost be in denial about the reality of death. All of us will die. There's no way around it. I hear people all the time say they don't believe in God, because how could God let my mother die? How could He let my brother die? My sister, my son? It's as if everyone else was immortal and God just chose to let certain people die. 

I think most would agree, the thing that hurts the most is when death is unexpected. Maybe more so when it happens "too soon" when a life is young and fresh or maybe just half way through. 

Getting over the initial shock, confusion and anger with God, I chose to thank Him for sending me my little sister. I thanked Him for answering my prayers. I thanked Him for the full 48 hrs of life she had outside the womb. I thanked Him for giving her breath for those two days, though she was blue and often had difficulty breathing. Thank You God!

Even now tears come to my eyes as I think of the immense blessing she was to me and my family. She brought us closer and blessed us in so many ways. It wasn't what we expected, but it was good.

And as my sweet Mom went through all this, she said she was honored to give God another child - He chose her to carry another human being into this world. 

Thank YOU God! Thank You for answering the prayers of my sisters and I and granting us a precious sister to hold and rock and sing to for two whole days! Thank You that we got to dress her in little outfits and change her little diaper and wrap her up all snug and warm. Thank You for all the friends and family who surrounded us, prayed for us and took care of us. Thank You for most of all for Your sweet, sweet presence that surrounded us and held us close to Your heart. You, You are good! And I love You.

#NaomiRuth #13yearsold #deathispartoflife #Edwardssyndrome #trisome13 #GodisalwaysGOOD

Contentment

...is a state of being, a state of the heart and will. It exists entirely independent of the circumstances that surround.

Recently, the preacher here in Kansas spoke about contentment. He taught from Philippians chapter four in which Paul says, "for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content." (Phil 4:11)

What is the root of dis-contentment...? Lack of happiness/comfort/pleasure or the presence of fear/anxiety/worry? or... is it all of these combined? I think for me it is all of the above, but primarily fear. Fear that God won't take care of me, that He won't follow through, etc... It is trying to make things happen and live life in my own strength. But I don't get anywhere, because I can't. I can't do it on my own and I'm not supposed to, but that isn't the point anyway.

The secret to learning contentment is found in the next verse, "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (Phil 4:12)

The point is that no matter what I need, or think I need, I can still be content. Because contentment is not based on what I have or don't have, it is an attitude and mindset. How do you learn to be "abased, hungry and to suffer need"? You simply embrace it. Don't fight it. You take it and thank God for it.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess 5:16-18)

After Paul shares his secret, he proceeds to say the widely-used, and more than often MIS-used, quote, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil 4:13) He can do what? He can live in poverty, he can be hungry, he can go without and STILL be content. Why? Because Christ Jesus' strength is the source of his contentment. Because he chooses to make his life goal the pursuit of Jesus and relationship with Him over the pursuit of things and happy circumstances. When you possess an eternal perspective and your relationship with Jesus is the forefront of your devotion, all else fades into the background.

"Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matt 6:31-33)

Dear Lord, teach me how to be content and not worry about or desire material things. Draw me closer to your presence until there is nothing I desire more. I long to be wholly and fully devoted to your plan and purpose for my life - to YOUR will - whatever that may be. Let all other desires and longings fade away as my vision is transformed to an eternal perspective. Amen.

More Scriptures:

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content." (1 Tim 6:6-8)

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matt 6:25-26)

Death Brings Life

My day began at 3:30AM in the small town of Newton, Kansas. Now in Atlanta on my way to witness/assist with my 42nd birth. We had a birth yesterday and last Saturday as well. Them babies sure are keeping us busy! ;)

God is teaching me something lately and I wanted to share. A dear friend of mine worded it so beautifully that I will quote her here, "'Death produces life.' Sometimes we think it is so hard to die to ourselves, but really, life is much harder when we live for ourselves." -Jessica Cole

I have thought several times in the last month about how it would be so much easier to go back home and live an "easy" life, to do something that I don't have to work so hard for. But God has been gently reminding me that I must do what is right, not what is easy. When I first said yes to the call of midwifery, I was determined to meet this incredible global need no matter what the cost. When things get hard and one is pushed out of their comfort zone, it is so natural to lose sight of the goal. My present "suffering" is nothing, NOTHING compared to the women around the world who are dying in childbirth, who labor for 5, 6, even 10 DAYS with a dead baby stuck inside them, who bleed to death because they have no meds, who are malnourished, who need to know the importance of feeding their babies within the first hour so they actually have a CHANCE to survive till the age of 5 or even their first birthday, who are beautiful women created by God Himself and are more than worthy of respect, dignity and honor that is so often bereaved them. When I think of the horror that happens every day, every hour, it shakes me to my core. A woman dies in childbirth every 3 seconds.

It's all about perspective. I must run this race, keep my eyes on the goal and the prize, Jesus Christ Himself. I have not been blessed to live a good life and be happy; I have been blessed to be a blessing. And it is, indeed, ALWAYS worth it!

Testimony Time

Hello dear friends and family!

I hope you're having a wonderful day today!  :)  I was asking the Lord what to blog about next, and I strongly feel that I need to share the detailed version of the story of my first SOLD painting!  This is a beautiful story of God's faithfulness.

Here's a little back-drop...
A year ago May 10th, 2014, I was with my team here in Nashville doing a massive outreach downtown.  Many churches and ministries collaborated for twelve hours of non-stop worship at a public amphitheater while smaller teams broke off to do street evangelism on Broadway.  Since we love to incorporate our creativity with our ministry here at Provision International & Thunder School, there were visual artists assigned to draw or paint each hour by the stage at the amphitheater. 

Here's where I come in!
A few weeks before this big outreach, I had talked to the art coordinator, Maddie, about wanting to do prophetic art.  However, I had since forgotten about mentioning that to here, and was quite astonished when I saw that I was scheduled to paint for the first hour of the day!  At first I was a little scared not knowing what on earth I was going to paint.  Then the Holy Spirit reminded me of a sketch I had saved of a vision He gave me a few months earlier for a time like this.

So here I am at the outreach excited by definitely nervous.  I didn't have a completed concept of what to paint, just an outline and the Holy Spirit to guide me.  I consecrated my hands to Him and asked the Holy Spirit to paint through me. I painted it in about an hour (miracle), completely letting go of perfectionism and my own preconceived ideas of what it should look like (miracle). Even the wind knocked my painting into my palate making a mark on it. However, I knew I wasn't supposed to fix it; I was suppose to let it be and go with the flow. And that I did, with supernatural grace. My whole being was completely surrendered to and in sync with Him.  It was an AMAZING experience!  Why was it a miracle, you ask?  Because it was TOTALLY abnormal to my natural tendencies.  It was supernatural.

Next thing I know, Maddie asks if I want to sell it if someone is interested. The concept of the possibility of selling it was the farthest thing from my mind, but I happily agreed and asked her how much I should charge.  I mean, what do I know about selling paintings?!  She suggested $75, so that it was!  I honestly didn't expect anything to come of it, but I did have a spark of hope flickering in my soul.

A couple hours later, Maddie tells me that people have been asking about it. Just then a guy inquires about it. He asks if I have seen “Father of Lights” film (which I have) and says he is in film school making a documentary similar to that. He was actually holding had a heavy-duty camera that he was using to film the outreach that day.  Then, he says he had just recently asked the Lord for a picture to use for his album artwork. I tell him the price and he says he'll get back to me. Some time went by, but he didn't get back to me.  I felt strongly that the Lord wanted him to have this painting, so I approach him a few hours later and say that if money is an issue, I'll take whatever donation he can give. I mean, after all, it costed me nothing to create the painting - canvas and paint were provided - and even if I get $20, that's $20 I didn't have before! We exchanged numbers and he said he would contact me.

That night he texted me saying he had money he forgot about, and that he wanted to buy the painting. I WAS SO EXCITED! Someone wanted to buy my painting.  My first EVER prophetic painting.  Wow.

Two days later my friend, Ahriel, and I met him at Starbucks. I had named the painting “Poured Out,” but all weekend I couldn't get away from the title “The Father's Heart Poured Out” even though it's such a long title. I added “The Father's Heart” in front of “Poured Out” right there in the coffee house and that's when he said the title of his film is: “The Father's Heart.”  He then hands me a wad of $20 bills and said that God told him to give me a double portion.  Um... Excuse me, WHAT??!?!  I opened it later to count the bills and it was $140!

This is such a testimony to God's grace because He told me that He would pay for my rent in a different way that month than in previous months.  This amount was not only what I needed, but even more!

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Ephesians 3:20 NKJV

A Day in the Life of Hannah

Hello, Hello, Hello!

This will hopefully be the first of many little blog posts explaining the various activities I find myself participating in as an intern with Provision International.  This post will be about my every-day life!

I live on Provision's campus in the midst of the projects of Nashville, TN with 24 other staff and interns. (Meet us here!) Every day I participate in an outreach/service of some sort considered "primary" mission work, and various practical ministerial jobs or "secondary" mission work.  For example, I help host prayer meetings and community services, lead worship and intercession, and participate in various evangelistic outreaches on a weekly basis.  I also do administrative work assisting the Pastors' Assistant and the Media Department with emails, media communications, etc.

I really love my job as I am very administratively wired and detailed.  I see the big picture and all the gaps that need to be filled, then delegate accordingly.  Almost all of my creative and practical gifts get utilized in some way, which makes me feel very useful, but can also drive me crazy if I'm not careful!  I am learning a lot this year as God has expanded my horizon and I am responsible for a lot more than before. 

Another "job title" I have is Dorm Mommy!  This just means that I help maintain order in my apartment.  There are six of us girls packed into a little two-bedroom apartment.  Needless to say 'tis quite cozy and sometimes a challenge with so many personalities!  But we really love each other deep down inside and help each other grow in character.  :)

Learning to accompany mercy with justice and speak the truth in love is no easy task, but necessary in a leadership position of any kind.  I am incredibly thankful for the pastors and staff who continue to give me advice and trust me with the tasks given. 


Thank you for reading!  I hope you enjoyed this little blurb about what I do here in Nashville.  Hey- why don't you let me know your thoughts?!  Leave me a little comment below.  :)

Until next time,
Hannah Garrett

Newsletter March 2015

Greetings Beautiful Family & Friends!

I hope you are having an incredibly fabulous year! It has been a long while since I have updated my blog or sent out a newsletter, but I treasure kingdom friendships and truly desire to stay connected. Here is me offering a little glimpse into my life and the journey I am on with the Lord! :)

The Lord is Faithful

Last year, I began a journey of dependence on God's guidance and provision on a level I had never encountered before. I enrolled in a missionary internship that changed my life and stretched me in ways I never would have imagined. My entire existence was completely in His hands as I was dependent on His provision for my every need. At first, it was hard to fight the anxiety that came from not knowing how my rent would be paid or how I would put gas in my car, but as God provided in miraculous ways month after month, my faith grew and I became less and less anxious. I grew more sure of my calling as He prepared the way before me.

Faith & Soar

At the beginning of internship last year, I asked the Lord to give me two words that would be the theme for me in 2014. He gave me the words “faith” and “soar.” I cannot tell you how true that was for me! My faith grew leaps and bounds as I watched Him provide for needs, turn situations around for good, protect me from scary situations and work miracles in the lives of those we minister to. I soared as I continued to sing and learn piano, in leadership and ministry, in expanding my gifts and creativity, and in responsibility. There were many painfully stretching seasons, but I was determined to keep on!

Provision – Story Time!
 

In May 2014, God provided for my rent in a way I least expected. The thought never would have crossed my mind in a million years. Our team was working with many churches to do a huge evangelistic outreach in downtown Nashville. Part of this 12 hour outreach was non-stop worship in a public amphitheater where I was scheduled to do a prophetic painting for 1 hour. It had been a long while since I had painted, but the Lord had given me an idea weeks prior and I was excited to paint with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Long story short, a guy bought it for DOUBLE the amount I asked! I had never sold a painting in my life and was certainly not expecting to sell anything that day, but the Lord clearly had other plans. Praise Him! 



As many of you know, my little '94 Honda Accord got stolen on September 11, 2014. Thunder School had just started on the 7^th and I was, along with the other interns, on staff for the school. My friend found my car missing the morning of September 12^th. The police found my car less than a mile from The Foundry (where I live) on the other side of the train tracks (where the projects are still kinda rough). The sunroof was gone, ignition ripped out, shifter lock was cut out, one of my vents was missing and my car was completely trashed. The police called me the next week saying they found my vehicle and I could pick it up, but I must refund them for the $135 tow fee, and I had 24 hours before they would start charging me for storage at the lot. I had NO money. Like nada. I prayed to the Lord, asked my friends to pray and then miracles started to happen! One after another, my friends and even some Thunder School Students came and put cash in my pocket. I asked my pastors here to send a message to our church fellowship and in one day $500 was raised to recover and repair my car! In addition to that, I received donations that covered my rent for that month and the next - all because my car got stolen! My car has since been repaired by a gracious mechanic who made it work within my $500 budget. 

(I have since given my car to my sister as the Lord led, so I now don't have a car!)

The Mystery of it all...

God sure works in mysterious ways, and He is very good at using situations meant for our harm and turning them into blessings. Through it all, I learned to lean on Him and not on my own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5) I learned the discipline of not being anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to make my requests known to God so that His peace would guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7) His faithfulness and infinite goodness was displayed to me in that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Even so, I do not say that I have already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (Philippians 3:12)

The Future

I have returned to Nashville for another year of missionary internship with Provision International. The Lord very clearly showed me that I am supposed to be here for another year which I am super excited about, AND He showed me a glimpse of what He has in store for next year – 2016!!! Finally, the end is in sight for me to finish my certification as a midwife! An opportunity opened up for me to finish my schooling with Mercy In Action (the same school I trained with in Idaho and the Philippines) starting February 2016. As always, the Lord was at work behind my back and completely set me up for this school and the timing of it. Every last little detail was in place. It couldn't have happened any earlier or later, just at the right time. :)

Prayer & Praise

God is creating beautiful things out of the ashes here in Nashville, TN, both in the lives of us missionaries and those in the inner-city community surrounding us. As the Lord leads, I would be honored if you would stand in prayer with me for the following:

1. that many people would be impacted by God's love through me this year
2. that many people will be saved
3. and that God would strengthen and sustain me to continue His work.

I hope this letter was an encouragement to you! May God richly bless you this year and may you continue to bear fruit for His Kingdom. May you grow in the knowledge of the Lord and seek Him above all else.

Blessings to you all,

Hannah Garrett

Holding on to the Promise

"And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit. But what do the Scriptures say about that? 'Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.' So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman." (Galatians 4:28-31 NLT)

We've been discussing Galatians during our weekly Bible Study.  Chapter four references Abraham and his seed of promise, Isaac, vs his seed born under the law (his attempt to obtain the promise through human effort), Ishmael.  I was thinking a lot about the promise God made to Abraham; how it took many years to fulfill; how all earthly possibility was gone; how Abraham ultimately tried to make it happen on his own; and how his action had a lasting impact on humanity. I realized on a deeper level the importance of believing God and letting HIM fulfill His promise in our lives, and how Satan's schemes to divert us from God's promises are a daily occurance in ways we are not always aware.

 

Here are some of my thoughts:)

 

When God tells you something, don't listen to your own reasoning, your mind, your thoughts; hold on to the promise God put in your heart; take captive every thought that exalts itself above the knowledge of God (thoughts that say they know better than God). Literally choose to not dwell on those thoughts. Say, "those thoughts are not my thoughts and those feelings are not my feelings." (something my Dad taught me:) 

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 NKJV)

Thoughts from the enemy (anything that contradicts God) become strongholds if you dwell on them. These thoughts come from the principalities of darkness; they are not the truth, therefore they are arguments against the truth. We Demolish strongholds and arguments of they enemy by not entertaining thoughts of doubt.

"...let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:2 NLT)

We must protect the seed of faith & promise that God has planted in us, not allowing strongholds to choke the seed and prevent it from bearing fruit.

"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (Proverbs 4:23 NLT)"

"Guard you heart..." Your heart is where God plants seeds of promise. It is a garden that He has given you to steward. Your heart "determines the course of your life"!

 

This is our weapon against the enemy. His only tactic in life is to convince us that what God said isn't really true, planting seeds of doubt in our hearts. Take what he said to Adam & Eve,

"Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? ...You will not certainly die... For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1, 4-5 NIV)

The devil doesn't just provide another option like, "oh I think this is a good idea," he actually attacks God's authority, questioning His word. First he questions, then he blatantly contradicts it ("you will not die"), and then he says he has a better idea. His goal is to convince us that God doesn't know what He's talking about to create suspicion in our hearts against God.

 

God is always speaking to us. Consequently, Satan will always try to convince us that God is a liar. How twisted is that? We know God is a God of truth; therefore, anything even remotely contrary is a LIE. We must protect what God tells us (His promises) as the most precious treasure, above anything; we must guard it with our lives.

Thankfully, even when we make mistakes and doubt God (and we've ALL done it), He is so faithful and merciful to us. He always turns our mess into something good!

Oh how He loves us!


The Musicianary Midwife (in the making),
Hannah Garrett